Touch screen panel and fabrication method thereof

ABSTRACT

A touch screen panel includes first and second sense cells on a same layer and coupling patterns that couple adjacent ones of the first sense cells and adjacent ones of the second sense cells to each other, respectively. The coupling patterns do not cross with each other, thereby improving the ability of the coupling patterns to withstand static electricity. A dummy line formed of a same material as the sense cells may be formed between the first and second sense cells, and the dummy line is electrically coupled to a guard ring located in an area outside of a display area of the touch screen panel, making it possible to overcome the effects of static electricity applied to the front surface of the touch screen panel as well as the side surface thereof.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2009-0079792, filed on Aug. 27, 2009, in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office, the entire content of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

An aspect of an embodiment of the present invention relates to a touchscreen panel and a fabrication method thereof.

2. Description of Related Art

A touch screen panel is an input device into which a user can input hisor her instruction by selecting instruction contents displayed on thescreen of an image display device, etc., using a human hand or anobject.

To this end, the touch screen panel is provided on the front face of theimage display device to convert the contact position directly contactedby the human hand or the object into electrical signals. Therefore, theinstruction contents selected on the contact position are accepted asinput signals. The touch screen panel may replace a separate inputdevice, such as a keyboard and a mouse, coupled to the image displaydevice.

Types of the above described touch screen panel include a resistivetype, a light sensitive type, a capacitive type, etc.

The capacitive type touch screen panel senses the change in capacitancethat is formed between a conductive sense pattern and other neighboringsense patterns such as a ground electrode, etc., when it is touched by ahuman's hand or an object, thereby converting the contact position intoelectrical signals.

Here, in order to determine the contact position on the contact surface,the sense patterns include first sense patterns (X patterns) coupled ina first direction and second sense patterns (Y patterns) coupled in asecond direction.

In the related art, the first and second sense patterns are disposed ondifferent layers, respectively. In other words, for example, the firstsense patterns are positioned on the lower layer, and the second sensepatterns are positioned on the upper layer, wherein a dielectric layeris interposed therebetween.

However, when the sense patterns are formed on different layers,respectively, the surface resistance of the transparent conductivematerial (for example, ITO) used as the sense patterns is large so thatthe width of the coupling part coupling the sense patterns positioned onthe same layer is large in order to reduce the surface resistance. Inthis case, the overlapped area between the coupling parts positioned onthe upper and lower layers becomes large so that the parasiticcapacitance becomes large, thereby degrading the sensitivity of thesense patterns.

Alternatively, the first and second sense patterns are positioned on thesame layer, and they are coupled by forming separate coupling patternsthrough contact holes formed on the dielectric layer on the upperportion of the first or second sense patterns. Here, the couplingpattern is a metal material having a low resistance value.

For example, as in the related art, the coupling part of the first sensepatterns is implemented with the transparent conductive material, andthe coupling part of the second sense patterns crossing the couplingpart of the first sense patterns is formed in a coupling patternimplemented with low-resistance metal material.

In other words, the first sense patterns are overlapped with the secondsense patterns in the area where the coupling pattern is formed, and thewidth of the coupling pattern is minimized, thereby making it possibleto reduce the effects of the parasitic capacitance generated from theoverlapped area.

However, in this case, the coupling part coupling the second sensepatterns is still formed of transparent conductive material with a highresistance value, the overlapped area between the sensing patterns isreduced, and the coupling pattern is positioned on the upper portion ofthe dielectric layer, having a disadvantage that it is weak against thestatic electricity applied from the outside.

SUMMARY

An aspect of an embodiment of the present invention relates to a touchscreen panel in which first sense cells and second sense cells formed ona same layer and coupling patterns that couple adjacent ones of thefirst sense cells and adjacent ones of the second sense cells to eachother, respectively, are constituted of a same material as a metalpattern located on a peripheral region of a touch screen panel. Thecoupling patterns are crossing with each other, thereby improving theability of the coupling patterns to withstand static electricity, and afabrication method thereof.

In addition, an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention relatesto a touch screen panel in which a dummy line comprising a same materialas the sense cells is located between the first and second sense cellson a same layer, and the dummy line is electrically coupled to a guardring formed in an area outside of the display area of the touch screenpanel, making it possible to overcome the effects of static electricityapplied to the front surface of the touch screen panel as well as theside surface thereof, and a fabrication method thereof.

Furthermore, an aspect of the present invention relates to a touchscreen panel in which when the touch screen panel is formed on an uppersubstrate constituting a display panel of a flat display panel, it isslantly formed in order to prevent the coupling patterns formed on thetouch screen panel from being completely overlapped with the pixelsarranged in a stripe shape, making it possible to improve visibility,and a fabrication method thereof.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a touch screenpanel includes: a transparent substrate; a plurality of first couplingpatterns on the transparent substrate aligned in a first direction; aplurality of second coupling patterns on the transparent substratealigned in a second direction and being spaced from the first couplingpatterns; a dielectric layer on the first and second coupling patternsand having first and second contact holes respectively corresponding toend portions of the first and second coupling patterns; a plurality offirst sense cells arranged in rows extending in the first direction onthe dielectric layer; and a plurality of second sense cells arranged incolumns extending in the second direction on the dielectric layer.Adjacent ones of the first sense cells are electrically coupled to eachother through the first coupling patterns exposed by the first contactholes, and adjacent ones of the second sense cells are electricallycoupled to each other through the second coupling patterns exposed bythe second contact holes.

The touch screen panel may further include: a plurality of metalpatterns on edge portions of a display area on which the first andsecond sense cells are located on the transparent substrate, the metalpatterns electrically coupling the first and second sense cells incolumn unit or row unit to position detecting lines.

The first and second coupling patterns and the metal patterns may be ona same layer and may be constituted of a metal having a resistance valuethat is lower than that of a material constituting the first and secondsense cells.

The first sense cells and the second sense cells may be alternatelyarranged and not overlapping with each other.

At least one of the second coupling patterns electrically couples twoadjacent ones of the second sense cells to each other. The secondcoupling patterns may partially overlap with the first sense cellsadjacent to the second sense cells coupled by the second couplingpatterns. The first and second coupling patterns may be in a rectangularshape.

The first and second sense cells may include a transparent electrodematerial with a thickness between 100 Å and 300 Å, and the transparentelectrode material may be indium tin oxide.

The touch screen panel may further include: a dummy line on thedielectric layer between the first and second sense cells; a guard ringon a peripheral region of a display area on which the first and secondsense cells are located, the guard ring being on the transparentsubstrate and surrounding the display area; and a third contact hole onthe dielectric layer corresponding to an end portion of the dummy line,wherein the guard ring and the dummy line are electrically coupled toeach other through the third contact hole.

The dummy line may be on a same layer as the first and second sensecells and may include a same transparent conductive material as thefirst and second sense cells. The dummy line may be formed in a meshtype including intersecting lines coupled to each other and being on anarea between the first and second sense cells. The dummy line mayinclude a plurality of end portions extending to an area outside of thedisplay area on which the first and second sense cells are located, andthe third contact hole may include a plurality of third contact holes,the plurality of end portions being electrically coupled to the guardring through the plurality of third contact holes.

The guard ring may be on a same layer as the first and second couplingpatterns and may be formed of a same material as the first and secondcoupling patterns. The transparent substrate may be an upper substrateof a display panel constituting a flat panel display, and the first andsecond coupling patterns may be slantly formed at an angle.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provideda fabrication method of a touch screen panel. The method includes:forming a plurality of first coupling patterns aligned in a firstdirection and a plurality of second coupling patterns aligned in asecond direction on a transparent substrate, the second couplingpatterns being spaced from the first coupling patterns; forming adielectric layer on the first and second coupling patterns, thedielectric layer having first and second contact holes respectivelycorresponding to end portions of the first and second coupling patterns;forming first sense cells arranged in rows extending in the firstdirection on the dielectric layer; and forming second sense cellsarranged in columns extending in the second direction on the dielectriclayer, wherein adjacent ones of the first sense cells are electricallycoupled to each other through the first coupling patterns exposed by thefirst contact holes, and adjacent ones of the second sense cells areelectrically coupled to each other through the second coupling patternsexposed by the second contact holes.

Moreover, the fabrication method of the touch screen panel may furtherinclude: forming a dummy line on the dielectric layer between the firstand second sense cells; forming a guard ring on a peripheral region of adisplay area on which the first and second sense cells are located, theguard ring being on the transparent substrate and surrounding thedisplay area; and forming a third contact hole on the dielectric layercorresponding to an end portion of the dummy line, wherein the guardring and the dummy line are electrically coupled to each other throughthe third contact hole.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a touch screenpanel includes: a transparent substrate; a plurality of first sensecells on the transparent substrate and being arranged in rows extendingin a first direction; a plurality of second sense cells on thetransparent substrate and being arranged in columns extending in asecond direction; a dielectric layer on the first and second sense cellsand having first and second contact holes overlapped with the first andsecond sense cells, respectively; a plurality of first coupling patternson the dielectric layer and overlapping the first contact holes and thefirst sense cells, the first coupling patterns coupling the adjacentfirst sense cells to each other; and a plurality of second couplingpatterns on the dielectric layer and overlapping the second contactholes and the second sense cells, the second coupling patterns couplingthe adjacent second sense cells to each other and being spaced from thefirst coupling patterns.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provideda fabrication method of a touch screen panel. The method includes:forming a plurality of first sense cells arranged in rows extending in afirst direction on a transparent substrate; forming a plurality ofsecond sense cells arranged in columns extending in a second directionon the transparent substrate; forming a dielectric layer on the firstand second sense cells, the dielectric layer having first and secondcontact holes overlapped with the first and second sense cells,respectively; forming a plurality of first coupling patterns on thedielectric layer to couple the adjacent first sense cells to each otherthrough the first contact holes, the first coupling patterns beingoverlapped with the first sense cells and the first contact holes; andforming a plurality of second coupling patterns on the dielectric layerto couple the adjacent second sense cells to each other through thesecond contact holes, the second coupling patterns being overlapped withthe second sense cells and the second contact holes, wherein the secondcoupling patterns are spaced from the first coupling patterns.

With the embodiments as described above, the coupling patterns thatcouple adjacent ones of the first sense cells and adjacent ones of thesecond sense cells, respectively, may be implemented with the metalmaterial having a low resistance value as the metal pattern formed in aperipheral region of the touch screen panel, and the coupling patternsmay not be crossing with each other to improve the ability of thecoupling patterns to withstand static electricity, making it possible tosolve the problem of electrostatic discharge (ESD).

Moreover, the dummy line formed of the same material as the sense cellsmay be formed on the area between the first and second sense cells, andthe dummy line is coupled electrically to the guard ring formed in theoutside of the display area of the touch screen panel, making itpossible to overcome the effects of static electricity applied to thefront surface of the touch screen panel as well as the side surfacethereof.

Furthermore, when the touch screen panel is formed on the uppersubstrate constituting the display panel of the flat display panel, thecoupling patterns formed on the touch screen panel may be formed slantlyat an angle not to be completely overlapped with the pixels arranged onthe display area of the display panel in a stripe shape to reduce orminimize the light emission area of the pixels that is blocked by thecoupling patterns, making it possible to improve visibility.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, together with the specification, illustrateexemplary embodiments of the present invention, and, together with thedescription, serve to explain the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 1A is a plan view showing the disposition of sense patterns formedon a touch screen panel according a first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view of portions (A-A′ and B-B′) of FIG.1A;

FIG. 2A is a plan view showing the disposition of sense patterns formedon a touch screen panel according a second embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of portions (I-I′ and II-II') of FIG.2A;

FIG. 3 is an exploded plan view of the touch screen panel of FIG. 1according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded plan view of a touch screen panel according to athird embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 5A and 5B are plan views showing the disposition of sense patternsformed on a touch screen panel according a fourth embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, only certain exemplaryembodiments of the present invention have been shown and described,simply by way of illustration. As those skilled in the art wouldrealize, the described embodiments may be modified in various differentways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the presentinvention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regardedas illustrative in nature and not restrictive. In addition, when anelement is referred to as being “on” another element, it may be directlyon the another element or be indirectly on the another element with oneor more intervening elements interposed therebetween. Also, when anelement is referred to as being “connected to” or “coupled to” anotherelement, it may be directly connected to the another element or beindirectly connected to the another element with one or more interveningelements interposed therebetween. Hereinafter, like reference numeralsrefer to like elements.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is a plan view showing sense patterns on a touch screen panelaccording a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is across-sectional view of portions (A-A′ and B-B′) of FIG. 1A.

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the sense patterns according to oneembodiment of the present invention includes first and second sensepatterns 120 and 140 alternately disposed, wherein sense patterns in thesame column unit (i.e., having same X coordinate) are coupled to eachother, and sense patterns in the same row unit (i.e., having same Ycoordinate) are coupled to each other.

In other words, the first sense patterns 120 include first sense cells122 arranged in rows extending in a first direction (row direction) anda first coupling pattern 124 for coupling adjacent first sense cells 122to each other in the same row. The second sense patterns 140 includesecond sense cells 142 arranged in columns extending in a seconddirection (column direction) and a second coupling pattern 144 forcoupling the adjacent second sense cells 142 to each other.

Here, in the above described embodiment, the first sense cells 122 andthe second sense cells 142 are formed on the same layer, wherein thefirst sense cells 122 and the second sense cells 142 may be formed oftransparent material in order to implement the operation of the touchscreen panel. To this end, the first and second sense cells 122 and 142are exemplarily formed of transparent conductive material, such asindium-tin-oxide (hereinafter, referred to as “ITO”).

Moreover, the respective sense cells arranged in the first direction andthe second direction may be electrically coupled to each other so thatthe first sense cells 122 and the second sense cells 142 function as asense electrode.

Therefore, the first sense cells 122 are electrically coupled to eachother by the first coupling pattern 124, and the second sense cells 142are electrically coupled to each other by the second coupling pattern144.

Here, the first sense cells 122 and the second sense cells 142 areformed on the same layer so that the first coupling pattern 124 and thesecond coupling pattern 144 cannot be formed on the same layer as thefirst and second sense cells 122 and 142 in order to avoid beingelectrically shorted.

Therefore, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the firstand second coupling patterns 124 and 144 are formed as layers lower thanthe first and second sense cells 122 and 142.

In other words, referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the first and secondcoupling patterns 124 and 144 are formed on the transparent substrate110, and the dielectric layer 130 is formed on the transparent substrate110 including the first and second coupling patterns 124 and 144.

The areas of the dielectric layer 130 corresponding to the ends of thefirst and second coupling patterns 124 and 144 are opened to form firstand second contact holes 132 and 134, respectively, so that the firstcoupling pattern 124 is electrically coupled to the adjacent first sensecells 122, and the second coupling pattern 144 is electrically coupledto the adjacent second sense cells 142, via the first and second contactholes 132 and 134, respectively.

Furthermore, since the first and second coupling patterns 124 and 144are formed on the same layer, they are spaced from each other at aninterval (e.g., a predetermined interval) in order to avoid beingelectrically shorted from each other.

In other words, as shown in FIG. 1A, the first coupling pattern 124electrically couples the adjacent first sense cells 122 to each otherarranged in the first direction (row direction), and the second couplingpattern 144, which is spaced from the first coupling pattern 124,electrically couples the adjacent second sense cells 142 to each otherarranged in the second direction (column direction).

Although the second coupling pattern 144 is implemented as a pair incoupling the adjacent second sense cells 142 in FIG. 1A, the embodimentis not limited thereto, but the second coupling pattern 144 may beimplemented in one.

Moreover, although the first and second coupling patterns 142 and 144may be formed in a rectangular shape as shown, this is merely oneembodiment so that they are not limited to the shape shown in thefigures.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the first and secondcoupling patterns 124 and 144 are formed of low-resistance metal such asthe same material as a metal pattern formed on the end of the displayarea on which the first and second sense cells 122 and 142 are formed tosupply signals sensed by the sense cells to a driving circuit.

In this case, since the first and second coupling patterns 124 and 144are formed on the same layer as the metal pattern through the sameprocess, an additional masking process for forming the first and secondcoupling patterns is not required, thereby making it possible to reducethe number of processes and the time thereof.

Furthermore, since the coupling patterns 124 and 144 coupling the sensecells to each other are implemented with low-resistance material ratherthan the transparent conductive material of the sense cells, the chargeflow through the coupling patterns of the sense cells can be improved,making it possible to improve sensitivity of the sense cells.

In addition, the ability of the coupling patterns to withstand staticelectricity is improved by positioning the respective coupling patternsnot to cross each other, making it possible to solve the problem ofelectrostatic discharge (ESD). Further, as shown in FIG. 1A, the secondcoupling patterns 144 overlap with the first sense cells 122 adjacent tothe second sense cells 142 coupled to each other by the second couplingpatterns 144, making it possible to prevent the charges passing throughthe second coupling patterns 144 from being concentrated in a narrowspace.

FIG. 2A is a plan view showing the disposition of sense patterns formedon a touch screen panel according a second embodiment of the presentinvention, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of portions (I-I′ andII-II') of FIG. 2A.

In the first embodiment of the present invention as explained throughFIG. 1, the first and second coupling patterns 124 and 144 are formed onlayers below the first and second sense cells 122 and 142 by way ofexample, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

In other words, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the first and secondcoupling patterns 124 and 144 may be formed on layers above the firstand second sense cells 122 and 142, and in this case, the sense cells122 and 142 are first formed on a transparent substrate 110, then adielectric layer 130 in which first and second contact holes 132 and 134are formed is formed thereon, and the first and second coupling patterns124 and 144 are formed on the areas on the dielectric layer 130including the first and second contact holes 132 and 134.

In the second embodiment of the present invention, the first sense cells122 arranged in rows extending in a first direction (row direction) andthe second sense cells 142 arranged in columns extending in a seconddirection (column direction) are formed on the transparent substrate110, and the dielectric layer 130 is formed on the first and secondsense cells 122 and 142.

However, on the dielectric layer, as shown, the respective first andsecond contact holes 132 and 134 are formed on a portion of theoverlapped area with the respective first and second sense cells 122 and142.

In addition, in order to electrically couple the first sense cells 122to each other, the first coupling pattern 124 is formed on thedielectric layer 130 in the area including the first contact holes 132positioned on the overlapped area with the first sense cells 122. Inorder to electrically couple the adjacent second sense cells 142 to eachother, the second coupling pattern 144 is formed on the dielectric layer130 in the area including the second contact holes 134 positioned on theoverlapped area with the second sense cells 142.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2A, the second coupling pattern 144 is spaced atan interval (e.g., a predetermined interval) from the first couplingpattern 124 in order to avoid short circuit between the couplingpatterns.

However, in this case, only the order of the respective layers ischanged but the detailed constitution and effects thereof are the sameas the aforementioned embodiment so that the detailed descriptionthereof will be omitted.

FIG. 3 is an exploded plan view of the touch screen panel of FIG. 1according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the touch screen panel 100 according to theembodiment of the present invention includes: a transparent substrate110; a plurality of first coupling patterns 124 arranged on thetransparent substrate 110 in a first direction; a plurality of secondcoupling patterns 144 arranged on the transparent substrate 110 in asecond direction and spaced from the first coupling patterns 124 at aninterval (e.g., a predetermined interval); a dielectric layer 130 formedon the first and second coupling patterns 124 and 144 and formed withfirst and second contact holes 132 and 134 on the areas respectivelycorresponding to the ends of the first and second coupling patterns 124and 144; and first and second sense cells 122 and 142 formed on thedielectric layer 130.

Here, the first sense cells 122 are formed on the area including thepair of adjacent first contact holes 132 and are electrically coupled tothe first coupling patterns 124 that are exposed through the firstcontact holes 132, and the first sense cells 122 and the first couplingpattern 124 coupling the first sense cells 122 constitute a first sensepattern 120.

In a similar manner, the second sense cells 142 are formed on the areaincluding the pair of adjacent second contact holes 134 to beelectrically coupled to the second coupling patterns 144 that areexposed through the second contact holes 134, and the second sense cells142 and the second coupling pattern 144 coupling the second sense cells142 constitute a second sense pattern 140.

Furthermore, a plurality of metal patterns 150 arranged on the edges ofthe display area on which the first and second sense patterns 120 and140 are formed to electrically couple the sense patternscolumn-by-column or row-by-row to position detecting lines.

In other words, the metal patterns 150 are disposed on the edge area ofthe area on which the first and second sense patterns 120 and 140 areformed, for example, on the area corresponding to the pads 120 a and 140a of the first and second sense patterns 120 and 140.

The metal patterns 150 electrically couple the sense patterns 120 and140 in column unit or row unit to the position detecting lines,respectively, to allow contact position detecting signals to be suppliedto a driving circuit, etc.

The plurality of metal patterns 150 are exemplarily formed through thesame process as the first and second coupling patterns 124 and 144, andthus, the metal patterns 150 are formed on the transparent substrate 110and are implemented with low-resistance metal.

The first sense cells 122 are formed to be coupled onto one surface ofthe dielectric layer according to the first direction. For example, thefirst sense cells 122 may be formed with regular patterns such as adiamond pattern and are close to each other on the upper surface of thedielectric layer 130.

Here, the shape of the first sense cells 122 is not limited to thediamond pattern but may be implemented in various suitable patterns inwhich the first sense cells 122 can be close to each other.

The first sense patterns 120 have pads 120 a so that they can beelectrically coupled to the metal patterns 150 row-by-row. The pads 120a of the first sense patterns 120 may be provided row-by-row alternatelyon the right and left sides or on both the right and left sides.

Moreover, the second sense cells 142 are disposed alternately with thefirst sense cells 122 not to be overlapped with the first sense cells122, while being formed on the dielectric layer 130 on which the firstsense cells 122 are formed according to the second direction.

The second sense cells 142 may be formed to be close to each other in adiamond pattern, in the same manner as the first sense cells 122.

The second sense patterns 140 have pads 140 a so that they can beelectrically coupled to the metal patterns 150 in column-by-column. Thepads 140 a of the second sense patterns 140 may be providedcolumn-by-column alternately on the upper and lower sides or on both theupper and lower sides.

Here, the first sense cells 122 are not formed on the area overlappedwith the second sense cells 142. In other words, the first sense cells122 and the second sense cells 142 are alternately disposed to becrossed to each other.

However, when the first and second sense cells 122 and 142 are formed onthe dielectric layer 130, they are formed on the area including firstand second contact holes 132 and 134 provided in the dielectric layer130, respectively. The first and second sense cells 122 and 142 areelectrically coupled to the first and second coupling patterns 124 and144 exposed through the first and second contact holes 132 and 134,respectively.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the first and secondcoupling patterns 122 and 144 are formed on the bottom layer of thetouch screen panel 100 and are arranged not to be crossed to each other,making it possible to improve the ability of the touch screen panel towithstand static electricity and to secure contact stability with thedielectric layer 130.

Moreover, in one embodiment of the present invention, the transparentsubstrate 100 may be implemented as the upper substrate of a displaypanel constituting the flat panel display so that the first and secondsense cells 122 and 142 and the dielectric layer 130 are formed oftransparent material so that the light emitted from the display paneldisposed below the touch screen panel 100 can transmit through the touchscreen panel 100.

In other words, the first and second sense cells 122 and 142 are formedof transparent electrode material such as indium tin oxide (hereinafter,referred to as “ITO”), and the dielectric layer 130 is formed oftransparent dielectric material.

The thickness of the first and second sense patterns 120 and 140 and thedielectric layer 130 may be set in the range such that the touch screenpanel 100 (in particular, the first and second sense cells 122 and 142)has a relatively low surface resistance, while securing thetransmittance that the light from the display panel is transmitted. Inother words, the thickness of the first and second sense patterns 120and 140 and the dielectric layer 130 may be set to be optimized inconsideration of the transmittance and the surface resistance.

For example, the first and second sense cells 122 and 142 may be formedas an “ITO” pattern having a thickness of 100 to 300 Å, respectively,and the dielectric layer 130 may be formed of transparent dielectricmaterial having a thickness of 400 to 1000 Å (e.g., thickness of 400 to700 Å) where light refractive index of 1.6 to 1.9 is secured. However,this is merely one embodiment and the present invention is not limitedthereto. The thickness of the first and second sense patterns 120 and140 and the dielectric layer 130 may, of course, be changed inconsideration of the transmittance and/or the surface resistance, etc.

In addition, a protecting layer 160 may be formed on the first andsecond sense cells 122 and 124 to cover them. For example, theprotecting layer 160 may be formed of transparent dielectric materialhaving a thickness of 400 to 1000 Å on the first and second sense cells122 and 142. However, the protecting layer 160 may also be omittedaccording to a product design.

The second embodiment shown in FIG. 2 has the same constitution as thatof the first embodiment, excepting that the first and second couplingpatterns 124 and 144 are formed on layers above the first and secondsense cells 122 and 142, so that the exploded plan view of the secondembodiment and the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 4 is an exploded plan view of a touch screen panel according to athird embodiment of the present invention.

Compared with the aforementioned first and second embodiments, the thirdembodiment of the present invention is different therefrom in that adummy line 170 formed of the same material as the sense cells is formedon the area between the first and second sense cells 122 and 124, andthe dummy line 170 is electrically coupled to a guard ring 180 formed atthe outside of the display area of the touch screen panel. Therefore,the same reference numerals in the drawings will be used for the sameconstituents as the first and second embodiments, and the detaileddescription thereof will be omitted.

However, for the convenience of explanation, in the third embodiment,the first and second coupling patterns 124 and 144 are formed on layersbelow the first and second sense cells 122 and 142 by way of example,but the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto. Inother words, the first and second coupling patterns 124 and 144 may beformed on layers above the first and second sense cells 122 and 142.

Referring to FIG. 4, the touch screen panel 100 according to the thirdembodiment of the present invention includes: a transparent substrate110; a plurality of first coupling patterns 124 arranged on thetransparent substrate 110 in a first direction; a plurality of secondcoupling patterns 144 arranged on the transparent substrate 110 in asecond direction, being spaced from the first coupling pattern 124 at aninterval (e.g., a predetermined interval); a dielectric layer 130 formedon the first and second coupling patterns 124 and 144 and formed withfirst and second contact holes 132 and 134 on the areas respectivelycorresponding to the ends of the first and second coupling patterns 124and 144; first and second sense cells 122 and 142 formed on thedielectric layer 130; a dummy line 170 formed on the area between thefirst and second sense cells 122 and 142, of the area on the dielectriclayer 130; a guard ring 180 formed around the periphery of a displayarea on which the first and second sense cells 122 and 142 are formed,of the area on the transparent substrate 110, in a shape to surround thedisplay area; and a third contact hole 136 formed on the dielectriclayer corresponding to the area corresponding to the end of the dummyline 170, wherein the guard ring 180 is electrically coupled to thedummy line 170 through the third contact hole 136.

Here, the dummy line 170, which is formed on the area between the firstand second sense cells 122 and 142, is formed on the same layer as thefirst and second sense cells through the same process and is implementedwith the same transparent conductive material (for example, ITO) as thesense cells.

For example, as shown, the dummy line 170 is formed in a mesh type,which includes intersecting lines coupled to each other, on the areabetween the first and second sense cells 122 and 142. The plurality ofends of the dummy line 170 extend to the outside of the display area onwhich the sense cells are formed and are electrically coupled to theguard ring 180 through the third contact holes 136 of the dielectriclayer 130.

In other words, since the first sense cells 122 and the second sensecells 142 are disposed to be crossed to each other, there is a spacetherebetween so that the dummy line 170 is formed in the gap between thefirst and second sense cells 122 and 142.

Moreover, as shown, the guard ring 180 is formed on the same layer asthe first and second coupling patterns 124 and 144 through the sameprocess and, thus, is implemented with the same low-resistance metal asthe coupling patterns. The guard ring 180 is provided to protect thepanel from the static electricity applied from the lateral side of thetouch screen panel when ground voltage is applied on the guard ring 180.

Through the constitution as described above, with the guard ring 180,the panel may be protected from the static electricity applied from thelateral side of the touch screen panel as well as the electrostaticdischarge (ESD) caused by the static electricity applied to the frontsurface of the panel, which is the display area of the panel, when theground voltage is applied to the dummy line 170 that is electricallycoupled to the guard ring 180.

Moreover, as described above, the first sense cells 122 are formed onthe area including the pair of adjacent first contact holes 132 to beelectrically coupled to the first coupling patterns 124 that are exposedthrough the first contact holes 132. The first sense cells 122 and thefirst coupling pattern 124 coupling the first sense cells 122 to eachother constitute a first sense pattern 120.

In a similar manner, the second sense cells 142 are formed on the areaincluding the pair of adjacent second contact holes 134 to beelectrically coupled to the second coupling patterns 144 that areexposed through the second contact holes 134. The second sense cells 142and the second coupling pattern 144 coupling the second sense cells 142constitute a second sense pattern 140.

Furthermore, a plurality of metal patterns 150 arranged on the edges ofthe display area on which the first and second sense patterns 120 and140 are formed to electrically couple the sense patterns incolumn-by-column or row-by-row to position detecting lines.

In other words, the metal patterns 150 are disposed on the edge area ofthe area on which the first and second sense patterns 120 and 140 areformed, for example, on the area corresponding to the pads 120 a and 140a of the first and second sense patterns 120 and 140.

The metal patterns 150 electrically couples the sense patterns 120 and140 in column unit or row unit to the position detecting lines,respectively, to allow contact position detecting signals to be suppliedto a driving circuit, etc.

The plurality of metal patterns 150 are exemplarily formed through thesame process as the first and second coupling patterns 124 and 144, andthus, the metal patterns 150 are formed on the transparent substrate 110and are implemented with low-resistance metal.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are plan views showing the disposition of sense patternsformed on a touch screen panel according a fourth embodiment of thepresent invention.

However, compared with the aforementioned first embodiment and thesecond embodiment, the fourth embodiment of the present invention isdifferent therefrom in that when forming the touch screen panel on anupper substrate constituting the display panel of a flat panel display,first and second coupling patterns formed on the touch screen panel areslantly formed at an angle (e.g., a predetermined angle) not to becompletely overlapped with pixels arranged in a stripe shape on thedisplay area of the display panel. Therefore, the same referencenumerals in the drawings will be used for the same constituents as thefirst and second embodiments, and the detailed description thereof willbe omitted.

However, for the convenience of explanation, in the fourth embodiment,the first and second coupling patterns 124 and 144 are formed on layersbelow the first and second sense cells 122 and 142 by way of example,but the present invention is not limited thereto. In other words, thefirst and second coupling patterns 124 and 144 may be formed on layersabove the first and second sense cells 122 and 142.

As aforementioned, the transparent substrate 110 of the touch screenpanel according to one embodiment of the present invention may beimplemented as the upper substrate of the display panel constituting theflat panel display.

Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, in the fourth embodiment of the presentinvention, first sense patterns 120 include first sense cells 122arranged in rows extending in a first direction (row direction) and afirst coupling pattern 124′ coupling the adjacent first sense cells 122to each other, and second sense patterns 140 includes second sense cells142 arranged in columns extending in a second direction (columndirection) and a second coupling pattern 144′ coupling the adjacentsecond sense cells 142 to each other, wherein the first and secondcoupling patterns 124′ and 144′ are not horizontally or verticallyformed but are formed slantly at an angle (e.g., a predetermined angle).

Here, the first coupling pattern 124′ or the second coupling pattern144′ may be implemented as at least one coupling pattern, and FIG. 5Bshows an embodiment where the first coupling pattern 124′ is implementedas a pair of coupling patterns.

The first and second coupling patterns 124′ and 144′ formed on the touchscreen panel are not completely overlapped with the pixels arranged in astripe shape on the display area of the display panel, when the touchscreen panel is formed on the upper substrate constituting the displaypanel of the flat panel display.

In other words, when the first and second coupling patterns arehorizontally or vertically arranged as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, they maybe completely overlapped with the pixels arranged in a stripe shape onthe display area of the display panel.

Here, the coupling patterns implemented with metal material are colored,thereby blocking the image emitted from the display panel. Therefore, ifsome coupling patterns are completely overlapped with the pixels formedon the area corresponding thereto as the coupling patterns are arrangedin the same direction or in the vertical direction to the pixels, aproblem arises that the light emitted from the overlapped pixels isblocked by the coupling patterns to be shown as dark spots.

In the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, thefirst and second coupling patterns are slantly disposed to reduce orminimize the overlapping area between first and second coupling patternsand the pixels formed on the area corresponding to the couplingpatterns. Therefore, the dark spots can be reduced.

While the present invention has been described in connection withcertain exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the inventionis not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, isintended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangementsincluded within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, andequivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A touch screen panel comprising: a transparentsubstrate; a plurality of first coupling patterns on the transparentsubstrate aligned in a first direction; a plurality of second couplingpatterns on the transparent substrate aligned in a second direction andbeing spaced from the first coupling patterns; a dielectric layer on thefirst and second coupling patterns and having first and second contactholes respectively corresponding to end portions of the first and secondcoupling patterns; a plurality of first sense cells arranged in rowsextending in the first direction on the dielectric layer; and aplurality of second sense cells arranged in columns extending in thesecond direction on the dielectric layer, wherein adjacent ones of thefirst sense cells are electrically coupled to each other through thefirst coupling patterns exposed by the first contact holes, and adjacentones of the second sense cells are electrically coupled to each otherthrough the second coupling patterns exposed by the second contactholes.
 2. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising: a plurality of metal patterns on edge portions of a displayarea on which the first and second sense cells are located on thetransparent substrate, the metal patterns electrically coupling thefirst and second sense cells column-by-column or row-by-row to positiondetecting lines.
 3. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 2,wherein the first and second coupling patterns and the metal patternsare on a same layer and are constituted of a metal having a resistancevalue that is lower than that of a material constituting the first andsecond sense cells.
 4. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1,wherein the first sense cells and the second sense cells are alternatelyarranged and not overlapped with each other.
 5. The touch screen panelas claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the second couplingpatterns electrically couples two adjacent ones of the second sensecells to each other.
 6. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1,wherein the second coupling patterns partially overlap with the firstsense cells adjacent to the second sense cells coupled by the secondcoupling patterns.
 7. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1,wherein the first and second coupling patterns are in a rectangularshape.
 8. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein thefirst and second sense cells comprise a transparent electrode materialwith a thickness between 100 Å and 300 Å.
 9. The touch screen panel asclaimed in claim 8, wherein the transparent electrode material is indiumtin oxide.
 10. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising: a dummy line on the dielectric layer between the first andsecond sense cells; a guard ring on a peripheral region of a displayarea on which the first and second sense cells are formed, the guardring being on the transparent substrate and surrounding the displayarea; and a third contact hole on the dielectric layer corresponding toan end portion of the dummy line, wherein the guard ring and the dummyline are electrically coupled to each other through the third contacthole.
 11. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 10, wherein thedummy line is on a same layer as the first and second sense cells andcomprises a same transparent conductive material as the first and secondsense cells.
 12. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 10, whereinthe dummy line is formed in a mesh type comprising intersecting linescoupled to each other and being on an area between the first and secondsense cells.
 13. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 12, whereinthe dummy line comprises a plurality of end portions extending to anarea outside of the display area on which the first and second sensecells are located, and the third contact hole includes a plurality ofthird contact holes, the plurality of end portions being electricallycoupled to the guard ring through the plurality of third contact holes.14. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 10, wherein the guardring is on a same layer as the first and second coupling patterns and isformed of a same material as the first and second coupling patterns. 15.The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transparentsubstrate is an upper substrate of a display panel constituting a flatpanel display.
 16. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 15,wherein the first and second coupling patterns are slantly formed at anangle.
 17. A fabrication method of a touch screen panel, the methodcomprising: forming a plurality of first coupling patterns aligned in afirst direction and a plurality of second coupling patterns aligned in asecond direction on a transparent substrate, the second couplingpatterns being spaced from the first coupling patterns; forming adielectric layer on the first and second coupling patterns, thedielectric layer having first and second contact holes respectivelycorresponding to end portions of the first and second coupling patterns;forming first sense cells arranged in rows extending in the firstdirection on the dielectric layer; and forming second sense cellsarranged in columns extending in the second direction on the dielectriclayer, wherein the adjacent first sense cells are electrically coupledto each other through the first coupling patterns exposed by the firstcontact holes, and the adjacent second sense cells are electricallycoupled to each other through the second coupling patterns exposed bythe second contact holes.
 18. The fabrication method of the touch screenpanel as claimed in claim 17, further comprising: forming a plurality ofmetal patterns on edge portions of a display area on which the first andsecond sense cells are formed, the metal patterns being on thetransparent substrate and electrically coupling the first and secondsense cells column-by-column or row-by-row to position detecting lines.19. The fabrication method of the touch screen panel as claimed in claim18, wherein the first and second coupling patterns and the metalpatterns are on a same layer and are constituted of a metal having aresistance value lower than that of a material constituting the firstand second sense cells.
 20. The fabrication method of the touch screenpanel as claimed in claim 17, wherein the first sense cells and thesecond sense cells are alternately arranged and not overlapped with eachother.
 21. The fabrication method of the touch screen panel as claimedin claim 17, further comprising: forming a dummy line on the dielectriclayer between the first and second sense cells; forming a guard ring ona peripheral region of a display area on which the first and secondsense cells are formed, the guard ring being on the transparentsubstrate and surrounding the display area; and forming a third contacthole on the dielectric layer corresponding to an end portion of thedummy line, wherein the guard ring and the dummy line are electricallycoupled to each other through the third contact hole.
 22. Thefabrication method of the touch screen panel as claimed in claim 21,wherein the dummy line is on a same layer as the first and second sensecells and comprises a same transparent conductive material as the firstand second sense cells.
 23. The fabrication method of the touch screenpanel as claimed in claim 21, wherein the guard ring is on a same layeras the first and second coupling patterns and comprises a same materialas the first and second coupling patterns.
 24. A touch screen panelcomprising: a transparent substrate; a plurality of first sense cellsarranged in rows extending in a first direction on the transparentsubstrate; a plurality of second sense cells arranged in columnsextending in a second direction on the transparent substrate; adielectric layer on the first and second sense cells and having firstand second contact holes overlapped with the first and second sensecells, respectively; a plurality of first coupling patterns on thedielectric layer and overlapping the first contact holes and the firstsense cells, the first coupling patterns coupling adjacent ones of thefirst sense cells to each other; and a plurality of second couplingpatterns on the dielectric layer and overlapping the second contactholes and the second sense cells, the second coupling patterns couplingadjacent ones of the second sense cells to each other and being spacedfrom the first coupling patterns.
 25. The touch screen panel as claimedin claim 24, further comprising: a plurality of metal patterns on edgeportions of the display area on which the first and second sense cellsare formed, the metal patterns electrically coupling the first andsecond sense cells column-by-column or row-by-row to position detectinglines.
 26. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 25, wherein thefirst and second coupling patterns and the metal patterns are on a samelayer and are constituted of a metal having a resistance value that islower than that of a material constituting the first and second sensecells.
 27. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 24, wherein thefirst sense cells and the second sense cells are alternately arrangedand not overlapping with each other.
 28. The touch screen panel asclaimed in claim 24, wherein at least one of the second couplingpatterns electrically couple two adjacent ones of the second sense cellsto each other.
 29. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 24,wherein the second coupling patterns partially overlap with the firstsense cells adjacent to the second sense cells coupled by the secondcoupling patterns.
 30. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 24,further comprising: a dummy line on the transparent substrate betweenthe first and second sense cells; a guard ring on a peripheral region ofa display area on which the first and second sense cells are located,the guard ring being on the transparent substrate and surrounding thedisplay area; and a third contact hole on the dielectric layercorresponding to an end portion of the dummy line, wherein the guardring and the dummy line are electrically coupled to each other throughthe third contact hole.
 31. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim30, wherein the dummy line is formed on a same layer as the first andsecond sense cells and comprises a same transparent conductive materialas the first and second sense cells.
 32. The touch screen panel asclaimed in claim 30, wherein the dummy line is formed in a mesh typecomprising intersecting lines coupled to each other, and being on anarea between the first and second sense cells.
 33. The touch screenpanel as claimed in claim 32, wherein the dummy line comprises aplurality of end portions extending to an area outside of the displayarea on which the first and second sense cells are located, and thethird contact hole comprises a plurality of third contact holes, theplurality of end portions being electrically coupled to the guard ringthrough the plurality of third contact holes.
 34. The touch screen panelas claimed in claim 30, wherein the guard ring is on a same layer as thefirst and second coupling patterns and is formed of a same material asthe first and second coupling patterns.
 35. The touch screen panel asclaimed in claim 24, wherein the transparent substrate is an uppersubstrate of a display panel constituting a flat panel display.
 36. Thetouch screen panel as claimed in claim 35, wherein the first and secondcoupling patterns are slantly formed at an angle.
 37. A fabricationmethod of a touch screen panel, the method comprising: forming aplurality of first sense cells arranged in rows extending in a firstdirection on a transparent substrate; forming a plurality of secondsense cells arranged in columns extending in a second direction on thetransparent substrate; forming a dielectric layer on the first andsecond sense cells, the dielectric layer having first and second contactholes overlapped with the first and second sense cells, respectively;forming a plurality of first coupling patterns on the dielectric layerto couple the adjacent first sense cells to each other through the firstcontact holes, the first coupling patterns being overlapped with thefirst sense cells and the first contact holes; and forming a pluralityof second coupling patterns on the dielectric layer to couple theadjacent second sense cells to each other through the second contactholes, the second coupling patterns being overlapped with the secondsense cells and the second contact holes, wherein the second couplingpatterns are spaced from the first coupling patterns.
 38. Thefabrication method of the touch screen panel as claimed in claim 37,further comprising: forming a plurality of metal patterns on edgeregions of a display area on which the first and second sense cells areformed, the metal patterns being on the transparent substrate andelectrically coupling the first and second sense cells column-by-columnor row-by-row to position detecting lines.
 39. The fabrication method ofthe touch screen panel as claimed in claim 38, wherein the first andsecond coupling patterns and the metal patterns are formed on a samelayer and are constituted of a metal having a resistance value lowerthan that of a material constituting the first and second sense cells.40. The fabrication method of the touch screen panel as claimed in claim37, wherein the second sense cells and the first sense cells arealternately arranged and not overlapping with each other.
 41. Thefabrication method of the touch screen panel as claimed in claim 37,further comprising: forming a dummy line on the transparent substratebetween the first and second sense cells; forming a guard ring on aperipheral region of a display area on which the first and second sensecells are located on the dielectric layer, the guard ring surroundingthe display area; and forming a third contact hole on the dielectriclayer corresponding to an end portion of the dummy line, wherein theguard ring and the dummy line are electrically coupled to each otherthrough the third contact hole.
 42. The fabrication method of the touchscreen panel as claimed in claim 41, wherein the dummy line is on a samelayer as the first and second sense cells and comprises a sametransparent conductive material as the first and second sense cells. 43.The fabrication method of the touch screen panel as claimed in claim 41,wherein the guard ring is on a same layer as the first and secondcoupling patterns and comprises a same material as the first and secondcoupling patterns.